Third Test, day one: England 104-6 lead Pakistan (99) by five runs

England’s bowlers have been superb throughout this series and they raised their excellence another notch on Friday after dismissing Pakistan for 99 in Dubai. But what the Decision Review System gave them with one referral it appeared to take away from them with another and England ended a day in which 16 wickets had fallen only marginally ahead on 104-6.

Their slender lead might not have extended that far but for Andrew Strauss, their captain, who played the kind of determined knock that has epitomised his career. Strauss, out of form for a while now, was unbeaten on 41 when stumps were drawn, and while his knock was not always pretty, it was a minor masterpiece compared to the horror show at the other end.

If Strauss comfortably deserved the batting plaudits he would have led the tributes to his bowlers, especially the two quick ones, Stuart Broad and James Anderson. The pair led the rout with seven wickets between them on a pitch that was neither extravagant not miserly in its help.

If they were a handful, as the odd ball nipped off the seam, the opponent batsmen have come to fear most whenever there is a hint of movement is the DRS. Its success in persuading both umpires and batsmen that pads are a serious liability, after six Pakistan players and three from England fell to lbws, has made it one of the great unintended consequences in sport.

The use of DRS has made Test cricket far more interesting at a time when bat was beginning to dominate ball, but it needs to be tweaked to reduce marginal decisions like Kevin Pietersen’s lbw to Abdur Rehman, if Tests aren’t to be turned into three-day games. If it isn’t, the consequences – lost revenues from returned tickets and reduced broadcasting deals from matches that last three days – will begin to impact upon Test cricket’s increasingly fragile base.

Pietersen was on 32 and going well in the company of Strauss when his old nemesis, left-arm spin, beat his makeshift forward defensive. Umpire Simon Taufel gave it out but Pietersen, realising the ball had not turned, asked for a review.

Taufel, despite a few wobbles on Friday, is a fine umpire but 10 years ago none of the top umpires would have given it out as it lacked the persuasive geometry for a ball delivered to a right-hander from around the wicket (it didn’t turn a jot). Yet, his judgement was probably not based on that but whether Hawkeye would predict a hit, itself a consequence of the marking system applied to all umpires by the ICC match referee, who uses the tracking device as a guide.

Hawkeye’s predictive path, which possesses a small error, had the ball from Rehman shaving the outside edge of the stumps, a precision it cannot claim with absolute confidence. Pietersen, who watched replay unfold on the giant screen, certainly looked disgusted tossing his bat high in the air as he departed.

So far there have been 35 lbws in this series, a record for a three-match series, and only six behind the record for a five-match series, held by the West Indies tour of England in 2000.

The effect of all these lbws has made batsmen feel so insecure as to go quietly even when the ball is missing the stumps, as it was when Jonathan Trott was given out off Umar Gul. Like England’s bowlers, Gul was getting the odd ball to seam back but this one did too much as to miss leg-stump. The curious thing was Trott didn’t even ask Strauss, who was at the other end, for an opinion, but then neither did England’s captain see reason to give one, which suggests DRS has messed-up everyone’s judgement.

You can never tell how good a bowling performance is until both sets of batsmen have experienced the conditions, especially with England’s top order so frail in this series. Jitters still remain, including a poor shot from Alastair Cook, and while some (Strauss and Pietersen) batted with skill and purpose, Ian Bell and Eoin Morgan looked as hapless against spin as they have been all series.

Bell can count himself a little unlucky after being stumped off Saeed Ajmal. While he was beaten off the pitch and allowed his back foot to drag forward out of the crease, he would have made it back had Adnan Akmal taken the ball cleanly. Instead, the ball ricocheted onto the stumps off his gloves, thus reducing reaction time considerably.

More damning for him, and more reflective of his travails this series, is that Ajmal’s figures against him this series read 4-12 off 32 balls. That is verging on mental slavery and Bell shuffled off resigned to his reputation as Ajmal’s rabbit.

Morgan looked determined to be aggressive, striking Ajmal over the top for four, but his shot selection remains poor for Test cricket, his back foot whip to leg off Rehman being wrong for the length it pitched. Rehman is a decent spinner but you’re always going to look good when batsmen get bowled playing inside the line of the ball as much as Matt Prior did. Whether it was the shadow, of fear of DRS, Prior was in another time zone.

It all served to take the gloss of England’s magnificent bowling performance after Pakistan had won the toss and batted. Misbah-ul-Haq nearly always puts opponents in but whatever made him go against that pattern, Broad and Anderson gave him instant regrets when they’d reduced Pakistan 21-5, lbws to the fore.

Monty Panesar chipped in with a couple and Graeme Swann with one, after Rehman tried to slog him over the top, but what should have been a celebration of their continued brilliance and its role in setting up a potentially winning position for their team, ended up far more mooted.